Maria Diaz/ZDNET If you’ve heard about Alexa+, a revamped version of Amazon’s virtual assistant powered by generative AI, you may be interested in diving into the Amazon Alexa ecosystem. Amazon Echo speakers are the best way to bring Alexa into your smart home. The Echo Pop and Echo Dot, Amazon’s two most compact smart speakers, are the most popular and affordable Echo devices available.  Amazon’s new Alexa+ is launching gradually over the next few weeks. While the company is…

Nomad always has an overstock sale option to help offload various products and models, however the addition of some of their flagship products into the mix is only for a limited time. Select flagship products will be included in the overstock sale starting at Feb. 27 at 9 a.m. PST through March 3 at 9 a.m. PST.  However, deals are subject to sell out or expire at any time, although ZDNET remains committed to finding,…

ZDNET’s key takeaways Regularly priced at $75, the Dreo Smart 5L Humidifier is on sale on Amazon for $60. This humidifier is easy to use, includes a demineralization filter, works with Alexa, allows you to add essential oils, adds both sleep and auto modes, and packs plenty of other features to help it rise above the rest. The only downside of the Dreo Smart 5L Humidifier is that it doesn’t offer a warm mist option….

ZDNET Gauging the speed of an application depends on several related factors, including the operating system, services running, applications open, OS uptime, the software versions used, whether a VPN is installed — and much more. You should always keep these in mind when considering which software represents the fastest option available. Such is the case with web browsers. I put several browsers through tests for startup and page rendering times to see which ones are…

ZDNET Microsoft continues its quest to vanquish bugs from Windows 11 24H2, and the latest update seems to fix a number of them. Released this past Tuesday, KB5052093 is an optional update, which means you may have to wait for it to appear or manually download and install it if you’re in a hurry. Also: Windows 11’s bug-fixing update is making things worse Some of the new features and fixes are rolling out gradually, so you…

Matthew Miller/ZDNET I spent a couple of weeks with the OnePlus Watch 3, and it’s clear that OnePlus took customer feedback to heart. The battery life is better, the rotating crown makes navigation easier, and the design caters to fans of larger watches. If size weren’t a factor, this might be my new go-to Wear OS smartwatch.  That said, a few software updates are still needed to iron out some issues. In fact, the launch…